The Wal-Mart Decade - AchieveMax® Top Ten Book Review

The Wal-Mart Decade: How a New Generation of Leaders Turned Sam Walton's Legacy into the World's #1 Company was destined for publication. It was simply a matter of when it would be written and by whom. In fact, I'm amazed that it wasn't published long before this. Wal-Mart is so much more than the smiling faces of the senior citizens who greet you with open arms at the front of the store, it's more than the bouncing Smiley Face continually reducing prices in every aisle, and it's certainly much more than a typical discount store chain headquartered in the small Arkansas town of Bentonville. Wal-Mart is the real thing. It's here to stay. It's a world-class company.

There is much to learn from this corporate giant that recently moved into the #1 spot on the Fortune 500 ahead of GM, Exxon Oil, Ford Motor, and GE. Do you think Wal-Mart simply stumbled into that coveted position? Consider this:

• Wal-Mart has revenues of $246 Billion;
• Wal-Mart has 1 million 300 thousand employees;
• Wal-Mart has mastered logistics and the supply chain;
• Wal-Mart shares its strategic vision with each and every employee;
• Wal-Mart leaders never rest on their laurels;
• Wal-Mart continually find ways to reduce costs while improving the shopping experience for its customers;
• Wal-Mart is the first company ever to head both the Fortune 500 list of American companies and that magazine's list of Most Admired Companies; and
• the Wal-Mart management team has devised and then implemented strategies for rapid but prudent growth.

The greatest strength in the Wal-Mart arsenal is the fact that their CULTURE is everything. It's hard to argue with the reality of Wal-Mart's continued performance.

I think it's important to realize that the author of this book isn't a devoted Wal-Mart fan trying to recruit additional followers for the retail giant. Robert Slater was a reporter for Time Magazine for 21 years. He is the best-selling author of Jack Welch and the GE Way and has also written acclaimed books about IBM and Cisco. He probed deeply into the Wal-Mart organization from top to bottom, from Bentonville to China and beyond. This book offers a fresh and fascinating look at this unique company-as it was and as it has become-with an immediacy and insider's feel unrivaled since Sam Walton's own memoir, Made In America.

Sam Walton set the bar high for his future leaders. He created a unique culture based on three basic beliefs:

Walton was also totally committed to what he characterized as his Ten Rules of Business ... each of which is explained in detail in the book. The author allocates three of 14 chapters to "The Founder and His Legacy." He wisely devotes the remainder of his book to explaining how the new management team devised and then implemented strategies for tremendous growth.

There really have been three quite different periods of Wal-Mart's development from a Ben Franklin franchise (opened in Bentonville as the Walton 5 and 10 in March of 1951) to the global retailing giant it is today. The three periods include the Sam Walton Years until his death in 1992, the David Glass Years (1992-2000), and the Lee Scott Years (2000-Present).

For years, many people asked about Wal-Mart the same question that others asked about Southwest Airlines: "What's going to happen after HE leaves?" With all due respect to both Sam Walton and Herb Kelleher, their respective organizations have done just fine. Perhaps that is the ultimate test of leadership: a heritage which endures after the leader is either gone or much less involved. In this exceptionally informative book, Slater explains how and why such a heritage guides and inspires the entire Wal-Mart organization.

More than 100 business book reviews written by Harry K. Jones are available at http://www.AchieveMax.com/books/.

Repr int Information

Your organization may reprint this article for your newsletter, online publication, or mailing list. We ask that you print the:

• article in its entirety;
• byline of the writer;
• information about the writer, which is available at the end of each article; and
• contact information, including our toll-free phone number in the U.S. (800-886-2MAX) and link to our website - www.AchieveMax.com.

We would appreciate a tear sheet or electronic copy of the articles you reprint.

Harry K. Jones is a professional speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a firm specializing in custom-designed keynote presentations, seminars, and consulting services. Harry has made presentations ranging from leadership to employee retention and time management to stress management for a number of industries, including education, financial, government, healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing. He can be reached at 800-886-2MAX or by visiting http://www.AchieveMax.com.

Book Reviews: 'Yesterday's Weather' and 'The Heretic's Daughter'
International Herald Tribune, France - Sep 5, 2008
'The ways we miss our lives are life," Randall Jarrell observed in his poem "A Girl in a Library." Anne Enright, the Irish writer who won the 2007 Man ...

Book Reviews: 'One More Year' and 'The Nightingales of Troy'
International Herald Tribune, France - Sep 5, 2008
The short stories in Sana Krasikov's first collection unfold in two contemporary landscapes: the former Soviet Union and New York City and its suburbs. ...

Book reviews: 'The Corpse Walker' and 'Fine Just The Way It Is'
International Herald Tribune, France - Sep 5, 2008
The Corpse Walker Real Life Stories, China From the Bottom Up. By Liao Yiwu. Translated and with an introduction by Wen Huang. 320 pages. $25. ...

Times Online
Review: Ghost Train to the Eastern Star by Paul Theroux
Telegraph.co.uk, United Kingdom - Sep 5, 2008
... people who walk and eat at the same time, people using cell phones, people who go on cruises ('fatheads'), book reviews in guidebooks… ...
Ghost Train to the Eastern Star: On the Tracks of The Great ... Times Online
Dream Trip: Siberian train, body odor and Paul Theroux Los Angeles Times
all 5 news articles

The Main Event Comic Book Reviews 09.06.08: Secret Six #1, Fables #75
411mania.com, TX - 20 hours ago
The mysterious villain in the book is suitably creepy. Lastly, the gore that the Secret Six seem to produce in their encounters is present without being ...

Book Review: “Autobiography of Red� and “The Beauty of the Husband ...
Wesleyan Argus, CT - Sep 5, 2008
The former received mixed reviews. Some identified Carson's ability to move between modernity and classicism as a return to the poetic forms of the early ...

Hindu
Remembering Nissim Ezekiel
Hindu, India - 6 hours ago
Nissim wrote more than 500 book-reviews, most of them in Imprint. The reviews showed his ability to get his teeth into the core of a book, see its virtues ...

Book Reviews: 'American Wife' and 'The Good Thief'
International Herald Tribune, France - Sep 2, 2008
In writing this book Sittenfeld - who wrote a 2004 Salon.com essay in which she touted the first lady as "a true role model" who "takes her responsibilities ...

A striking smalltown tale
Irish Times, Ireland - 12 hours ago
To judge from the five reviews the book is fascinating and the riposte by the author is well-balanced and generous. There is just space for a taste of two ...

Monsters and Critics.com
Book Review: Break of Dawn
Monsters and Critics.com - Sep 4, 2008
By Sandy Amazeen Sep 4, 2008, 23:26 GMT Book three of the Vampire Babylon series finds Dawn and Kiko of Limpet and Associates recovering from their latest ...

Wind Chimes and more...

Windchimes for great gifts!

Review: eBook Secrets Exposed